In no particular order, Angela Hunt is a novelist, a nana, teacher, mother, wife, mastiff owner, reader, musician, student, aspiring theologian, apprentice baker, and bubble gum connoisseur. The things that enter her life sooner or later find their way into her books, hence "a life in pages."
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Health Care
Universal health care . . . scares me silly. This video explains why.
I heard of this through Lena N Dooley who posted the link on Twitter. I wanted to say that this video shows how bad national healthcase can be. But when I have been in CA and trying to get help for my disabled sister who had very good health insurance, we met with the same CRAP. And I don't say that word lightly. It took me 10 hours of saying "She must be admitted. She can't even keep water down." before she was admitted to a room. TEN HOURS. I have never experienced anything like that in the Midwest. And I don't want to! Lyn Cote www.LynCote.net
We live in Colorado and have been on and off of Medicaid for our kids for the last 6 years. I NEVER would recommend the government running your healthcare. I tell all of my friends about how awful our experience is and I'm terrified at how much worse it will be when everyone has to do what we do. Ah, the joys of being in the ministry. I do thank God that we are able to get healthcare for the kids though...at least we have a crappy option, unlike places like Africa.
These young men did a splendid job documenting the problems encountered when a patient is not able to interact directly with a doctor. Unfortunately, one doesn't have to travel to Canada, Britain, or France. Insured US citizens experience the same frustrations when: 1) they live in major metropolitan areas where the hospital systems are overwhelmed, 2) they live in rural areas which don't generate sufficient business to sustain a doctor, hospital or emergency care clinic, which means traveling significant distances for health care. 3) they are enrolled in HMO or PPO insurance plans which ration care to control costs.
In a tragic example of the third, my mother's friend was told by her dentist that she had a cancer on her tongue; she should see a surgeon immediately. Her "gatekeeper" primary physician wouldn't refer her to a specialist, saying the dentist was mistaken. By the time she had worked through the insurance bureaucracy to see an oncologist and surgeon, her cancer had spread. She died within the year.
Socialized medicine isn't the answer, but the current system needs to be renovated.
You and everyone else SHOULD be scared, Angie. I am disabled and have no insurance other than Medicaid. I already cannot get the healthcare that I need...my primary dr. believes he can handle everything and refuses to refer me to specialists. Unfortunately, if I relied on my doctor, I would be seriously injured or dead by now. So why not get another doctor, you ask. Because the few doctors that participate in Medicaid have full quotas and I may NEVER be able to get a different one even if my current one retires or dies!
Fortunately, the healthcare reform bills currently being considered provide a solution: Let the elderly and infirm (disabled included) just suffer until they die off and then there won't be any need for so much specialized health care!!
Praise God I will go to be with Jesus when that time comes!!
As a Canadian, I have to say that yes, in our health care system there is alot of waiting... we are not treated like customers, and the frustration of seeing a specialist is daunting. HOWEVER I have never had to wait for 10 hours - EVER - no matter how busy the ER was....the area these young men chose to make the documentary may not be exactly typical.
It is certainly true that our health care system is NOT FREE! Besides the taxes the video talks about, there are the taxes we pay on gasoline....at least in Alberta, a large portion of our fuel tax goes to health care - and is, as they said, a tax on top of a tax. (That, is criminal, IMHO).
There are 'horror stories' from the US system as well (as your commentors have proven)...the insurance companies can be as daunting as the inefficiencies of public health care.
In my family we have seen both the ugly side of socialized health care and the good side....for example, our daughter was born with a congenital heart defect and required 28 days in the Neonatal Intensive care - including one on one nursing for part of that time. She had two surgeries, performed by the best pediatric cardiac surgeon in North America. We did not have to go into debt to give her the best care possible and we did not have to wait for a single hour before seeing the specialist.
On the other hand, my father in law has been waiting for months to see a specialist because he has been having chest pains - he has a history of heart disease. This is only one example from my own experience of life-threatening waiting.
I wonder if the two tiered system everyone is so afraid of wouldn't help by taking the rich out of the 'line' and making the wait for the middle and lower class folks a little shorter.
I do not think there is a good answer to the question of health care....Socialized health care is certainly NOT what Obama and his crowd would have you think it is.
7 comments:
Yep. As a patient it makes me shudder.
As a nurse, it makes me cringe.
There's a word that's very important to me in health care... CHOICE.
I heard of this through Lena N Dooley who posted the link on Twitter.
I wanted to say that this video shows how bad national healthcase can be.
But when I have been in CA and trying to get help for my disabled sister who had very good health insurance, we met with the same CRAP. And I don't say that word lightly. It took me 10 hours of saying "She must be admitted. She can't even keep water down." before she was admitted to a room.
TEN HOURS.
I have never experienced anything like that in the Midwest.
And I don't want to!
Lyn Cote
www.LynCote.net
We live in Colorado and have been on and off of Medicaid for our kids for the last 6 years. I NEVER would recommend the government running your healthcare. I tell all of my friends about how awful our experience is and I'm terrified at how much worse it will be when everyone has to do what we do.
Ah, the joys of being in the ministry. I do thank God that we are able to get healthcare for the kids though...at least we have a crappy option, unlike places like Africa.
These young men did a splendid job documenting the problems encountered when a patient is not able to interact directly with a doctor. Unfortunately, one doesn't have to travel to Canada, Britain, or France. Insured US citizens experience the same frustrations when:
1) they live in major metropolitan areas where the hospital systems are overwhelmed,
2) they live in rural areas which don't generate sufficient business to sustain a doctor, hospital or emergency care clinic, which means traveling significant distances for health care.
3) they are enrolled in HMO or PPO insurance plans which ration care to control costs.
In a tragic example of the third, my mother's friend was told by her dentist that she had a cancer on her tongue; she should see a surgeon immediately. Her "gatekeeper" primary physician wouldn't refer her to a specialist, saying the dentist was mistaken. By the time she had worked through the insurance bureaucracy to see an oncologist and surgeon, her cancer had spread. She died within the year.
Socialized medicine isn't the answer, but the current system needs to be renovated.
So well put. And true, as evidenced again on Facebook.
You and everyone else SHOULD be scared, Angie. I am disabled and have no insurance other than Medicaid. I already cannot get the healthcare that I need...my primary dr. believes he can handle everything and refuses to refer me to specialists. Unfortunately, if I relied on my doctor, I would be seriously injured or dead by now. So why not get another doctor, you ask. Because the few doctors that participate in Medicaid have full quotas and I may NEVER be able to get a different one even if my current one retires or dies!
Fortunately, the healthcare reform bills currently being considered provide a solution: Let the elderly and infirm (disabled included) just suffer until they die off and then there won't be any need for so much specialized health care!!
Praise God I will go to be with Jesus when that time comes!!
As a Canadian, I have to say that yes, in our health care system there is alot of waiting... we are not treated like customers, and the frustration of seeing a specialist is daunting. HOWEVER I have never had to wait for 10 hours - EVER - no matter how busy the ER was....the area these young men chose to make the documentary may not be exactly typical.
It is certainly true that our health care system is NOT FREE! Besides the taxes the video talks about, there are the taxes we pay on gasoline....at least in Alberta, a large portion of our fuel tax goes to health care - and is, as they said, a tax on top of a tax. (That, is criminal, IMHO).
There are 'horror stories' from the US system as well (as your commentors have proven)...the insurance companies can be as daunting as the inefficiencies of public health care.
In my family we have seen both the ugly side of socialized health care and the good side....for example, our daughter was born with a congenital heart defect and required 28 days in the Neonatal Intensive care - including one on one nursing for part of that time. She had two surgeries, performed by the best pediatric cardiac surgeon in North America. We did not have to go into debt to give her the best care possible and we did not have to wait for a single hour before seeing the specialist.
On the other hand, my father in law has been waiting for months to see a specialist because he has been having chest pains - he has a history of heart disease. This is only one example from my own experience of life-threatening waiting.
I wonder if the two tiered system everyone is so afraid of wouldn't help by taking the rich out of the 'line' and making the wait for the middle and lower class folks a little shorter.
I do not think there is a good answer to the question of health care....Socialized health care is certainly NOT what Obama and his crowd would have you think it is.
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